9.23.2012

NYC II! Day 2: Ippudo NY

08.29.12

After
our dessert adventures (Big Gay’s Ice Cream Shop & butter lane), we still
had a good chunk of time before our dinner reservations at 8:30pm. Hmm, how to
spend the free time?! We were debating window shopping, going back to the
apartment for some downtime, or a quick “first” dinner of sorts at ippudo ny (@ippudony); a
well-known Japanese ramen shop in nyc’s East Village.

As
you can guess, we chose to EAT. Considering ippudo was within walking distance
from our last stop, we took the scenic route!

There’s construction going on
above, which explains the scaffolding. Obstructed the view of a nice
storefront! :( From the outside, you're looking into the bar of ippudo, where there are some specials that you won't find in the regular dining rooms. ;)

The
front glass is plastered with different accolades/recognition garnered within
recent years, including being on the Michelin Guide for the past three years.
We arrived a bit past 4:30 and decided to just wait outside. A line-up quickly
formed. It became 20+ people long by the time the restaurant opened up for
dinner service.

I
know it’s nothing special, but it was kinda cool to be the first seated. :D The
restaurant definitely has this nice, dark, intimate, cool feel to it; heavily influenced by both Japanese tradition and culture.

We
all thought this concept is really neat! “Kae-dama” (2) allows you to order
some extra noodles should you have any remaining broth when you’re done your
ramen. It’s a smart concept right?! You can add extra ramen toppings as well if
you’d like, ranging from $2-$4.

Very cool wall mural made up of thousands of individual scales.

This
is the main dining room where there are communal seating, tables, and
kitchen-side bar seating. We were seated in another section (pictured above)
that’s a little more private.

There’s
a ‘specials’ menu that included a squid ink ramen (18). A must-try we decided.

Darian
often ordered beer to accompany his food…this time, KIRIN Ichiban Draft (6). I’m
super asian when it comes to drinking so I only stole a few sips here and
there. No way am I gonna get caught with a full blown asian glow!

Enough
preamble and stalling, it’s ramen time!!!!

Ippudo Hiyashi Chuka (12)– cold
ramen with various toppings

Vickie
mentioned she was craving cold ramen hence us getting this summer special. It
arrived like this, all colourful and healthy looking. My first thought, “where’s
the flavor gonna come from?!”

There’s
a ladle of sauce on the side that you drizzle over the ramen. We’re not too
sure what’s in it…ponzu, rice vinegar, soy sauce? Either way, we mixed everything
together, divided, and conquered.

It
may not look the most appetizing but it was revelatory!! How do you get so much
flavour out of ramen, ham, shiitake mushrooms, egg, cucumber, sprouts and seaweed?!
The dressing really was the star, but at the same time, it didn’t mask anything
else that was going on in there. PERFECT for a summer day. Light, refreshing,
may I have some more please?!

I
was scared for this bowl of potential super spiciness. When it came, the smell
coming off this was intoxicatingly good. YUMMY! I couldn’t wait to dig in. That’s
wasabi sitting atop the bean curd, it doesn’t look that scary.

The
ramen here was perfect! Great bite to it, perfectly al dente. :D Not spicy at
all, I actually wished there was more wasabi and/or wasabi oil in there to give
it more pep. The bowl was awesome, both aesthetically and practically! No need
to hover over the bowl, slurping up the deliciousness.

We
were convinced to add “karashi takana” (3), which are spicy pickled mustard
greens. I think this was a bad decision on our part because it didn’t really
add much to the ramen. Perhaps we should’ve went with the other recommendation, "nitamago" (2, a seasoned salt boiled egg) instead.

Exciting!!
I’ve never had squid ink noodle/pasta before so I was super stoked. The
tonkotsu broth is out of this world good! Beautiful. I love how the “chashu” (Chinese
bbq meat. Yeah, Chinese brap brap!) is sliced.

Photos
time. I swear we didn’t take long, ever! At the most, a minute in total per
dish, although usually, it was more like 30 seconds. Everything in this ramen
dish was perfect! Yeah, Andrew's camera is as big as his face! (multiple times have I tried to slip his camera into my bag..."You mean you're missing your camera Andrew? Maybe the hobo down the street teefed it from your bag!")

Just
the right amount of heat to balance out the fattiness of the broth. Just one off-note,
menma (bamboo shoots) ain’t my thing. That’s just me, so I passed mine off to
Darian. :)

Here’s
a peek at the black squid ink ramen noodles!!

Complimentary
tea to cleanse the palette and to cap off our meal.

Here’s
the bill! (don’t laugh at my receipt photos! They’re useful!)

A
closer look at the communal table in the main dining room. The dark dining room
is smartly lit so that you can see what you’re eating but not too bright so
that you can slurp your ramen in relative privacy. ;)

Open
kitchen! Bahaha I’m guessing they’re used to seeing hangry (yes, I meant to
right “hangry” because the lines for ippudo aren’t nice…so you get angry +
hungry as you wait!) patrons hunched over bowls of ramen.

Noodle
bowls make up a great backdrop for the bar! Can you tell where I tried to piece two
photos together? It’s a pretty shoddy editing job, I apologize! I’m not a
photoshop wizard (YET!). muahaha

Yes,
that’s their house-made ramen under the glass on the bar table. Oof, 2 for 1
deal on draft beer! Darian was thinking, “oh shucks!” when he saw this,
although the Happy Hour special only applies at the bar. He wouldn’t ditch his
friends to save $6 would he? Dundundun Ultimate test of friendship here!

Verdict: At
first, I thought that $15 is a pretty steep price for ramen. After all, I’m
used to the thirty packets you get from the grocery store when you’re too lazy
to cook dinner and too cheap to go out for a real meal. No more cheapo ramen
for me! The cold ramen was blew us all away. The “tonkotsu” soup is really as
good as I expected! (It’s a bit cheaper during lunch.)

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About Me

Hey, I'm Carmen and thanks for stopping by! I'm interested in all things food-related. Here, I'll be sharing my food adventures with you. The idea is to give you a taste of what to expect and hopefully, if you like what you see, you'll check out the restaurant / try the recipe too!
I spend my days at school, in the bakery, in the gym, on a boat or hermitting indoors studying. Eating out is a privilege that I appreciate and when the opportunity comes along, YOU GOTTA TAKE IT. Happy eating! :D